social exchange theory

• Thibaut and Kelley (1959) - The social exchange theory (SET) suggests that relationships can be explained in terms of economics – an exchange of goods.
• Suggests that satisfaction is judged in terms of the profit (perceived value of the costs minus the value of the rewards)

  Costs – rewards = satisfaction

  People try to maximise the rewards in their relationships and minimise the costs (minimax principle)

  Profitable relationships continue and unprofitable relationships fail
• Thibault and Kelley proposed a 4 stage model for relationship development:

  1)Sampling – exploring rewards and costs by experimenting in our relationships

  2)Bargaining – negotiate with partners around costs and rewards

  3)Commitment – The relationship becomes stable, costs reduce and rewards increase

  4)Institutionalisation – partners become more settled and the norms of the relationship are established
• Comparison level (CL) is a judgement of the reward level we believe we deserve in a relationship, determined by experiences and social norms.

  We tend to look for relationships where the CL is high, but some people (e.g. with low self-esteem) may have low CL’s
• Comparison level for alternatives (CLalt) suggests we consider whether we might gain more rewards and have fewer costs in a different (or no) relationship

  We stay in a relationship, despite available alternatives, when we consider it is more rewarding that the alternatives

  Satisfying relationship = alternatives not noticed
• Strength

  Interviewed hetero and homosexual couples and perceived they had most rewards and fewest costs if they were in a committed relationship. Also found they viewed alternatives as unattractive.

  Supports the SET, increasing the validity of the theory and the generalisability to all couple types
• Weakness

  However, studies into SET ignore the role of equity, which suggests that it is not the balance of rewards and costs but the perception of what is fair within a relationship.

  Therefore, the SET theory is limited and cannot account for a significant proportion of research findings which confirm the importance of equity.
• Weakness

  SET claims we become dissatisfied after we perceive costs outweigh rewards, however it has been argued that dissatisfaction may come first and start to perceive more costs as a result.

  Therefore, we may not be able to determine cause and effect and the direction may be the opposite as to what the SET suggests
• Weakness

  Costs and rewards are subjective and hard to define. Also the CL and CLalt value are unclear for what leads to dissatisfaction

  This means the SET is difficult to test in a valid way.